SynthesisPaediatric and perinatal epidemiology2025
Fenton Third-Generation Growth Charts of Preterm Infants Without Abnormal Fetal Growth: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Synthesis in Paediatric and perinatal epidemiology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- NewbornGenes · 2025Pooled it
- Impact of first-trimester preeclampsia screening on perinatal and maternal morbidity: the RANSPRE open multicenter randomized trial.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2026Trial
- Comparison of growth and morbidity outcomes in preterm infants using two different intravenous lipid emulsions.Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2026Article
- Are premature infants with severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia at increased risk for atypical craniosynostosis?Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2026Article
- Exploring the nuances of preterm growth charts.Jornal de pediatria · 2026Article
- Postnatal weight trajectories drives beter head circumference growth in preterm infants ≤32 weeks: a multicenter Latin American cohort study.Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2026Article
- Impact of Prematurity on Nutrient Signaling and Protein Synthesis in Skeletal Muscle.Annual review of nutrition · 2026Review
- Cranial Ultrasound Morphometry and Head Circumference at Term-Equivalent Age Are Associated with Early Neurodevelopmental Outcomes in Preterm Infants.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2026Observational
- Reclassification of SGA and EUGR in very preterm infants after the introduction of Fenton-2025: a retrospective cohort comparison with INTERGROWTH-21st and Fenton-2013.BMC pediatrics · 2026Article
- Building the mountain mama & baby cohort: study design, protocol, and early prenatal clinic-based recruitment outcomes.American journal of epidemiology · 2026Article
- Early-life dentine-based elemental biodynamics and cord blood telomere length.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Multimodal Graphical Network Analysis of Small-for-Gestational-Age in Preterm Infants: Integrating Neonatal Brain Volume, Structural Connectivity, and Early Neurodevelopmental Outcome.Annals of biomedical engineering · 2026Article
- Birth-size reference charts for newborns admitted to the neonatal intensive care units.BMC pediatrics · 2026Article
- Lung ultrasound for neonatal respiratory distress in a resource-limited county hospital: a pilot study.BMC pediatrics · 2026Observational
- Association of Fetal Growth Retardation with Postnatal Osteoprotegerin Concentrations and Aortic Intima-Media Thickness.Diseases (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Fenton vs INTERGROWTH-21st charts in preterm infants < 32 weeks: impact of chart selection on growth classification.European journal of pediatrics · 2026Article
- Gut microbiota and short-chain fatty acids in pregnant women with group BFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2026Article
- Gestational age-dependent risk patterns in small for gestational age preterm infants: a large multivariable cohort study.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2026Article
- Extreme Intrahepatic Cholestasis of Pregnancy With Fetal Ascites and Neonatal Meconium Peritonitis.Cureus · 2026Article
- Serial amplitude-integrated electroencephalography trajectories and brain-injury-associated functional immaturity in extremely preterm infants.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundExperts recommend assessing preterm infant growth against fetal growth patterns. However, obtaining accurate estimates of healthy fetal growth from preterm infants is challenging as many had intrauterine faltering growth.
objectivesTo improve preterm infant growth assessments by developing Fenton third-generation sex-specific preterm growth charts based on anthropometric distributions of preterm infants without abnormal fetal growth. We also aimed to evaluate the consistency of the new charts' growth velocities. DATA SOURCES: From the last search for the 2013 Fenton growth charts to November 2024, MEDLINE and EMBASE databases, grey literature, as well as US Vital statistics and iNeo Consortium. STUDY SELECTION AND DATA EXTRACTION: We followed systematic review methodology to identify population-based sex-specific anthropometric estimates of preterm cohorts without abnormal fetal growth beginning ≤ 24 weeks of gestation. Specified a priori, outcomes included newborn sex-specific estimates of birthweight, length, and head circumference. SYNTHESIS: We followed PRISMA guidelines. Literature screening and quality assessment were performed in duplicate. We harmonised weight, length, and head circumference weighted-average meta-analyses with the World Health Organization growth standard and rescaled the charts' x-axis from completed gestational weeks to exact gestational age (weeks and days).
resultsSeven studies from 15 countries (Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Finland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, United Kingdom and United States) were included, representing 4.8 million births 22-42 weeks of gestation. 174,184 were < 30 weeks gestational age. The Fenton third-generation preterm growth charts' weights showed improved growth velocity across percentiles with consistent declines for weight, length and head circumference velocity as post-menstrual age increased. The birthweight meta-analysis curves had similar shapes to fetal ultrasound estimates.
conclusionsThe Fenton third-generation preterm infant growth chart curves demonstrate improved and more uniform slopes across percentiles and closer alignment with fetal ultrasound estimates, offering a growth standard for preterm infants. PROSPERO REGISTRATION: CRD42024589756.
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